Howl
by Paisleylace
Summary: There's a wolf in the woods. There's a human in the woods. Wishshipping AU, potentially more than a oneshot...?
1. Chapter 1

Is this a cheesy Wishshipping werewolf AU? It might be. I've borrowed a small element from Selkie mythology, though not the 'forced marriage' part because ew. I have no excuse for the delay in updating Heart of Magic beyond writer's block and work being a bitch, but sorry anyway to those waiting on that. I also have no idea if this will be a longer thing or just one chapter's worth with Implications. Let me know if you think it should or shouldn't. Note that Jounouchi's appearance is mostly based off the recent colour re-release of the manga.

Either way, have fun.

* * *

 _There's a wolf in the woods._

That was the refrain Yugi heard in his head, over and over, as every crunch of snow and ice underfoot seemed to echo around him. The villagers had whispered it to each other, some angered, some not. But they were all afraid, even his grandfather. The stronger and younger residents took it on themselves to track and kill the creature, and today Yugi had finally managed to earn his own place on the team. He patrolled to the north of the village, ostensibly the 'easy' path, the one well traveled by merchants and travelers from the lowlands. But snow covers all it touches eventually, and soon Yugi found himself going far off track, until he was scrambling up fallen trees and crawling between ice cloaked boulders, praying they didn't slip under their own weight and crush him.

He didn't know what all the fuss was about, to be honest. Wolves were common pests and little more to their little village, tucked away in the looming shadows of the mountains and forests as old as the sky, and he'd never put much stock in them. The cattle their fields fed were immense, stoic creatures that formed a wall of solid muscle at the slightest provocation (though he'd never been afraid, their gaze was soft as old felt). Their sheep were guarded by vicious dogs, trained to kill even bears (and they squabbled like puppies over thrown sticks).

Dangerous in a pack, for a lone traveler perhaps, but surely nothing to warrant such fear.

Then again, he WAS a lone traveler.

One particular wolf was the issue then. Maybe it was a man-eater. A merchant had stumbled into their village a few weeks before, a gibbering wreck of a man who'd gotten lost en route to the next ridge. But, aside from where branches and thorns had torn at him as he fled through the forest, he was unharmed. Oh, he'd certainly been chased within an inch of his life, but the immense beast turned tail and fled at the first sign of civilization. He could barely describe it, beyond 'huge' and 'yellow'.

Had Yugi been paying attention to his surroundings, he would've noticed that the branch he'd picked out to grab on jumping a small river was far too weak, even for someone as slight as him. It collapsed into splinters at his grasp and he had a few moments of sheer annoyance before the shock of plummeting into unbelievable cold overtook him, immobilizing him.

The river was narrow, but far deeper than it looked. He'd been warned about them, rivers that had been shaken and twisted by earthquakes until they'd turned on their sides, cutting impossibly deep ravines into the land while still looking as innocent as the babbling brooks in his mother's favorite novel.

Huh. He was drowning now, wasn't he? The surface seemed so far away from his paralyzed hand. He should've known the river was dangerous, nothing that flows so quickly even when the lakes freeze is good news.

He was going to die here, and he didn't even get to see the wolf. His grandfather would be heartbroken, for he was the one who encouraged Yugi to try his luck at tracking it down. His mother would dig out the old rifle she put away after giving birth to him and kill the wolf that killed her son, even if its fangs are clean.

Not even the wolf would find his body.

* * *

 _There's a human in the woods._

* * *

The first thing Yugi felt was the cold air, nipping at his fingers. He didn't remember taking off his gloves (or indeed, the rest of his clothes). Nor did he remember leaving the frigid water. In fact, aside from his slightly damp hair, he was pretty much dry. And warm, though not quite enough for comfort.

The second thing he felt was _fur._ Dense, heavy and all over him. Wirey in some places, soft as fresh cotton in others. The smell was pleasantly familiar though itself unpleasant; the shepherd hounds chasing the flock through an overflowing river sprang to mind.

His eyes crawled open, to see that it was a wolf's pelt, easily big enough to comfortably cover even the largest bull with plenty to spare. Whoever had put him in it had had the foresight to fold half of it underneath his body, shielding him from the snow and rock beneath. Even halved, it was still large enough to almost completely drown him, same as the river had tried to. He pulled his fingers underneath it, with no small effort since his arms seemed heavier than lead, and it was then he noticed the colour.

'Yellow', he decided, was woefully underestimating it. Guard hairs were caught by what little light filtered through the dense conifer trees, some bright as wheat, a scattered few burnt amber, though the majority were closer to red gold. The dense, softer fur underneath was more unified, a mild blond. A pelt like this wouldn't look out of place on the back of a king. This must have belonged to the wolf that chased the merchant. Dead already... A shame, a skin this gorgeous in death would've been even more glorious in motion.

His clothes hung from a branch, strung up by sticks and thin rope. They still dropped little beads of water, not even beginning to freeze yet, so he couldn't have been out of the water for long. Clothes he didn't recognize were also hung up, an unfamiliar style that looked more suited to far warmer climates than here.

He closed his eyes again, for what he was so sure was only a moment, but when he opened them again the blue skies above were dimming orange fire, the shadows long and implacable in their approach. He shivered, worse than before, but it didn't help. He couldn't keep his eyes open much longer...

Something moved, obscured by his own fading vision, while sound seemed filtered through the snow. Something else was there, something human shaped that growled and shook his shoulder. He couldn't quite make out what they were saying but he got the gist of it.

"Cold," he managed to stutter. "Help..."

The stranger sighed, then pulled up the wolf pelt. The wind kicked up at the worst moment and wrenched a gasp from Yugi as it tore across his exposed skin, before they slid close against him and pulled the pelt back over, this time covering the both of them.

Yugi shamelessly pushed his cheek against the stranger's chest. It couldn't have been all that much warmer than his own in reality, considering he had no clothes on either and was out in the snow, but to Yugi it nearly burned. Broad, solid and muscular, a few scars slashed here and there that caught against his own skin a little as he rubbed his face against it. Yugi's arms ensnared the stranger's waist almost automatically, though the stranger seemed a little hesitant to return the gesture and he felt rather than heard him awkwardly clear his throat. He was far too cold to care, though he did pull back briefly to try and catch a glimpse of his savior's face.

Red had crept down the stranger's neck all the way to his chest, so he followed it up to equally stained cheeks. He was about his age, with a strong jaw. That same slightly red gold as the pelt fell over his forehead like a mop, a little tangled. His eyes, though they were resolutely looking away, were soft too. A beautiful hazel brown like nothing Yugi had ever seen before.

The stranger cleared his throat again. "I, uh... I don't know how to start fires. Sorry."

So that was his voice. Rough, hoarse like he hadn't used it in a while, an accent Yugi had never heard before. His words were deliberate, like he was carefully remembering each syllable. Yugi tried, but he couldn't find the to speak in return and settled for pressing closer against him instead, shaking his head and hoping his acceptance got through.

"I'll get you back to your village in the morning, 'kay? There's a wolf out here. S'not safe."

Minutes seemed to drag by as drowsiness slowly overtook Yugi once more. As the sunlight through the trees faded, maybe he thought Yugi was more asleep than he was, because then he heard the stranger mutter to himself, "Why _is_ there a village?"

He wished he could answer, but the dark fog of sleep took over, right as the stranger finished with, "S'not supposed to be _anyone_..."


	2. Chapter 2

Hey guess what I didn't forget about this little thing. A couple of people are interested in seeing where this goes, and since I didn't plan it being much more than a oneshot, I guess I am too. Expect sporadic updates, more in line with TWEYHO than the 'big three'.

Unbeta'd.

* * *

Waking up at the force of his own sneezing was something Yugi had long gotten used to in the dry winter air, but that didn't make it any less unpleasant of a jolt.

He was alone again, the stranger nowhere to be seen. His clothes were gone from their branch, but the pelt remained wrapped around Yugi. There was still warmth trapped under it, more than Yugi could've done by himself, so the stranger couldn't have been gone too long. Perhaps the stranger had gone hunting for breakfast.

The morning sun broke low through the trees, the sky clear of clouds and pink as rock jasmine. As pink as Yugi's entire body seemed to feel the moment he realized he'd spent an entire night, completely naked, pressed up to some man who's name he didn't even know.

It faded when some snow fell from a branch, disturbed by some of the little birds hopping around. For a moment, he thought one of the other villagers might have found them. A search party, or maybe just his mother with her gun in one hand and keeping Grandpa from slipping into despair with the other.

God, the others must be worried about him too. Well, maybe just 'other'. Anzu always looked out for him, not letting the bigger villagers their age pick on him, but they weren't especially close beyond that even though they were neighbors. She wouldn't be as worried as his mother and grandmother at any rate. He was supposed to have returned before sundown and while it was common for the more experienced to lose track of time out in the wilderness, it never boded well for anyone who'd never really ventured past the boundaries of their village.

He looked around for his clothes, and found them folded in what could only be described as an attempt at a neat pile by his head. It was still leagues better than anything Yugi had ever managed to do with his own clothes back home. He finished tying his boots and hoisted the pelt over his shoulders to hang it over a branch he had a chance of reaching. Twigs, dirt and stones marred the fur, so as he brushed those out with his fingers the best he could, he glanced around the camp.

It was almost entirely barren, besides a map pinned to a tree stump with a few stones at each corner, not made of paper but rather branded leather. It was worn, sun-bleached and flaking in places, but even from this distance Yugi could unmistakably make out the ridges of the mountains around them, along with the outline of an immense lake not too far from Yugi's village.

It'd been called the Drowned Man's Lake as far back as his grandfather's books and folklore could say, though nobody in living memory had proved the ominous name right. Considering the lord of what seemed like the entire mountain range resided within a grand manor alongside it, he hoped that would be the case for a long time - if he remembered correctly, the man apparently had two children and it would be a tragedy if either of them were hurt.

(Even if the lord was an awful, horrible man who openly sneered at their village, and Yugi had never seen either one of the supposed sons.)

Yugi had always wondered, on the days where the fog rolled in and the other side vanished from existence, if that was what the ocean looked like. Maybe the stranger could tell him. Yugi had seen clothes like the ones he owned only in the summer months, when their home was more accessible to the lands below. The pass his village was built around was the only safe way through for miles around, especially in winter.

Snow crunching and the undergrowth being shoved aside shattered the peace of the clearing, and Yugi quickly hung the pelt behind him as he reached into... an empty sheath. Fantastic. His dagger must've fallen out in the river, he realized. His shoulders slumped. It hadn't been an especially important dagger, a standard one owned by many and surely rusted from disuse, but it was the first weapon he'd ever held, the first time that he was considered an equal to his peers. And he'd lost it before it had cut anything more destructive than a twig.

In an odd way though, he was glad at the same time - he'd never been able to bring himself to slaughter something as simple as a chicken or even a fish, let alone something as large as a wolf. He couldn't picture himself driving it into the beast's heart, at any rate.

The stranger emerged, morning powder falling from the trees and dusting his shoulders, and Yugi relaxed. He didn't seem to notice Yugi's wary stance, his melancholy, or Yugi himself altogether, as he lay out the fruits of a dawn forage out on the snow atop the leather strip he'd bound them in. A hare that had been skinned already, pine cones still filled with seeds, and some small birds who must have frozen over night. He grabbed one of the cones and got to work picking the seeds out, using...

"Is that my dagger?"

The stranger jumped at Yugi's voice, the pine cone tumbling back into the snow along with the dagger. Yugi yelled at himself internally; he could've cut his finger off because of him!

The stranger drew in on himself, hunching his shoulders like he expected Yugi to yell at him. "Yeah, sorry. Shouldn't have took it without askin' but, uh, the blade on mine snapped. D'you mind?"

"No, it's fine. Just be careful, it's a little dull."

The stranger nodded, his shaggy fringe falling over slightly confused eyes, and Yugi couldn't tear his eyes away from the sight even as the stranger pushed it back and got back to work, chatting as he got back to stripping the cone of all its seeds.

"You're, uh. You're a local, right?" he said suddenly.

"Yeah, why?"

"Y'see that map on the stump? Bought it from someone off the coast, but, uh... Meetin' you makes me think it's off somehow. Mind takin' a look?"

On closer inspection, he was proven right. Aside from the lake and the mountain range, there was no sign of Yugi's village, or that there was even a path through the mountains to begin with.

"No offense, but I think you got ripped off. This thing is either a fake or _years_ out of date, or both. I mean, yeah my village is small, but it's the only one around for miles. It should be about... there. Mind if I mark it?"

The stranger sat quiet for a moment, his face alarmingly blank. He inhaled deeply, then let out a sigh that sounded like it should've come out of someone far older, more familiar with the world's troubles.

He didn't offer Yugi any clues as to how irritating it must have been to come so far on a bad map, instead standing and stretching, his back clicking. There was something else in his eyes though, some awful exhaustion, that just couldn't have been caused by that awkward proximity to Yugi alone. No wonder, if he'd been following a map that told him there was nothing but wilderness. He wouldn't know all the shortcuts like the other villagers did, or even just the passable routes. Yugi knew in theory, but he'd never had to put that theory to the test. At least, not until now.

The stranger walked over, taking Yugi's dagger with him. He looked at the old map for a moment, then his face twisted into a snarl and he plunged the dagger into it, like he meant to cut it to pieces.

"Wait, don't get rid of it! My grandpa's sort of like a historian back in my village, he'd love something like that - I mean, it might not be a fake, just really old. I bet he'd give you a good price for it, even with the damage. You could come by, stay a few nights? We could give you a real map too, one that's up to date."

"I don't know..."

"And my mother will want to thank you for saving me, too! A-and you could tell everyone that the wolf's been taken care of..."

It didn't occur to Yugi until after he'd said it that asking a strange man to come meet his family after spending a night naked beside him might be... misconstrued. The stranger thankfully didn't notice Yugi as he pulled the dagger out - he was too busy staring wide-eyed at where Yugi had hung the pelt off the ground. While he was distracted, Yugi make a small notch on the map where his village should have been.

The stranger walked over to it, running his own fingers through the now clean (-ish) fur. After a few moments, he smiled, the first time Yugi had seen of it. It was small, hesitant, and Yugi could tell he was capable of something much bigger and bolder, but even that was enough to send butterflies skyrocketing within him. "I guess _one_ night couldn't hurt..."

Yugi held out his hand when he turned around. "I'm Yugi. Thank you for saving me."

The stranger hesitated for a second, then took it in his own. His hand was large enough to cover Yugi's almost entirely. "Jounouchi. You're welcome."

The two ate their breakfast not long after, when Yugi's stomach decided to loudly remind him that he hadn't eaten for far too long. In his haste to devour his share, he didn't notice that the stranger didn't touch a single pine seed.


End file.
